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Where am I?
Eyes opened a bit to see only a blur and the dark green walls with the moth patterns all around the room.
Have I been here before?
Eyes opened again to see the room, along with a familiar teenager standing at the corner, looking at him.
Kyoya?
He opened his eyes again, and before he managed to hold him, he is gone.
o-o
Mukuro managed to open his eyes fully. “Such a hazy dream.” He muttered, rubbing his temples to dull the ache he has in his head. ‘Why did I see you again?’ Thoughts ran into his head. The blue haired teen looked around, noticing the odd room he was in. He was confused. ‘Since when did I got here?’ He can’t remember how he got in here the first place. But all he can understand is that he wanted to know the truth.
About what really happened.
But what’s really odd is that he feels the room is so familiar. He can feel the velvet couch he was lying on. He can see the deer skull hanging above the television. He can recall the mirror right above this large cabinet. And right by the door, a coat hanger with his Kokuyo uniform jacket were placed.
Mukuro stands up and reached at the red door handle but it wouldn’t turn. As if it was locked from the outside. He frowned, banging his hand on the wooden door. “Hey! Let me out!” He looked around the room and he sees he’s the only one trapped in this room. “I do like pranks, but this isn’t so amusing at all.” He called out, but the only response he got is the small creak by the ceiling fan.
“Nothing?!” He feels, different. As if his patience was cut much shorter than he expected. But then again, he got tired of waiting for so long.
He grabs the jacket off the coat hanger and wore it again. Just when he was about to say another threat, the phone rings.
‘Now what?’ He mumbles as he makes his way to the small furniture where the telephone rings, along with an ashtray and a small flyer.
Rusty Lake Mental Health and Fishing
That’s what it said on the flyer. Mukuro picked up the receiver and responded.
“Hello?”
It was static for a while before someone finally answers
“Greetings, Child of Samsara. I do hope you are enjoying your stay,”
Mukuro Rokudo, the Child of Samsara. He had never been referred to that in his entire life.
“No, I don’t.” Mukuro replies. “Now tell me who you are and where am I instead of making me play this stupid detective game.”
“This is a place of relaxation; a place to empty the mind. Reflecting the past and the future.”
“Enough of the formalities. Just let me get out of this room. Or I’ll break down this room myself.”
“You may feel unable to do your abilities here. But feel free to try. Do be warned, some people have found this place…hard to leave.”
“Is this a challenge?”
“And he’s waiting…” Then the call was cut off.
“Crazy caller.” Mukuro slammed the receiver back to the phone and picked up the flyer. He flipped it and found a handwritten note with a very familiar handwriting:
Don’t drink the blue vial. -MR
He returned the flyer back where it was, and he started to look around. He stopped by a very creepy painting. In it, there’s two chairs and a coffee table. There’s blue liquid spilling out of a tipped over vial, dripping on the floor. On one of the chairs, there’s a man, whose head is a crow head rather than human. And on the other, there’s a dark figure with bright eyes.
“Such a tacky painting.” Mukuro scoffed. He looked away and started to look at the small boxes on top of the cabinet where the mirror is located at his eye level. He bent over, trying to open the cabinet, but it is locked. He reached at the slightly smaller box and sees a small key.
“This is really an escape game right now?” He muttered, fiddling with the small key. And when he looked at the mirror, he saw a familiar figure staring at him. He immediately turned his head and it disappeared, as if nothing is there.
“Kyoya?” He called the same name he had been crying for months.
It was a sad memory.
He shook his head. “He’s not here.” And he continued looking around. He noticed the drawers where the figure stood, and he approached it. He took the necessary items and noticed the bottom drawer was locked, so he used the key on it to open it.
And there’s a wooden cube.
There’s a marking of a triangle with a line carved onto it. Mukuro turned around and noticed the cube is somewhat similar to the small carved indents on the cabinet by the mirror. He returned there and placed the cube onto the middle slot.
‘Why do I feel that should be placed there?’
He decided to look at the old television. He tried clicking the power button on and it didn’t work. Mukuro huffed exasperatedly. “Of course.” He stared at the severed cord in disappointment. He hears a rattling of a cage and he uncovered the dark red cloth. There’s a parrot flapping its wings.
“Pity. You want to get out.” Mukuro spoke to the bird. “In such a way, we are similar.”
‘What is going on in me? I’m starting to talk to birds as if they are people…like he does…’ The blue haired teen shook his head and covered the birdcage.
He looked at the bookshelf. There are many books covered in a very thick layer of dust. As if it was never cleaned at all.
Robert Hill
Vincent van Gogh
A. Vanderboom
J. Eilander
Ida Reiziger
“How unusual.” Mukuro shook. But then a black book caught his eye. It was a bit cleaner and less dusty than the other books. There’s even a clean spot as if it was more frequently used than the rest.
C. Eilander
He pulled the book and noticed the cover. It has a mark of a cube. Out of curiosity, he opened it.
The glorious day of the lake will come.
One will find death, the other enlightenment.
Balance the substance of your past lives.
Reflect on the past, present, and future.
Mukuro noticed the illustration of a wheel.
Naraka
Preta
Tiryagyoni
Asura
Mānuṣa
Deva
The way he could point out the wheel sections, makes him clench the book hard. It really points out about Samsara, the cycle of death and rebirth, reincarnated into either one of the realms.
‘Is this a way to mock me?’ He can remember his dark childhood, being dragged into those realms, experiencing them one by one, having the red eye he deliberately used to ruin everything that made him like this.
But then, he started to think it wasn’t a joke when he sees the jars of organs complete with initials and dates. He can recognize the tongue, the brain, some eyeballs, and there’s even a heart. Based from the sizes, Mukuro is sure that they were from human bodies. “The things they do for a new chance of living.” He commented.
He flipped through the pages on the black book and finds the iron cube with an s-shaped marking, perfectly inserted in the cut out remaining pages of the book. He picked up the cube and closed the book, returning it to its spot.
Before he goes to insert the cube into the slot, he noticed the two photo frames at the bookshelf, covered by dust. He cleared the first photo. There’s a blonde woman with her eyes closed, along with a bearded man, some of his hairs were grey.
And when he cleaned the second photo, he was stunned.
It was a familiar photo, taken long ago before everything had changed.
“Kyoya…”
It was the two of them, happily smiling under a cherry blossom tree.
He can still remember how he was happy that day. To make the skylark smile and confessed about his affections. For a moment, every trouble he went through were wiped away. They were really happy when the photo was taken.
But what happened?
He takes the photo out of the frame and slipped it into his jacket pocket, the one closest to his heart. ‘I missed you so much.’ Mukuro heads to the mirror to put the second cube in the slot.
“Something’s not right…” He looked at himself at the mirror. He looked normal. Nothing much has changed. But then, in a blink of an eye, he suddenly sees a dark figure with bright eyes staring back at him instead of his own reflection. The sudden shock makes him jump back and trip at the nearby chair, hitting his head to the carpet and lost consciousness.
o-o
“Hey…”
What is happening to me?
“Mukuro…”
I have to arrange my memories.
o-o
“You sent me a note to meet you here. What do you want?”
A smile formed on his lips. “That’s not how you greet someone you didn’t hate.”
“I disliked you.” Eyes looking away.
“You are in denial. I can see it in your eyes. You’re looking away. I can see it on your face, all red and cute. If I make you look at me, would you even try to shrug away, or slap me on the face, or even try to kill me?”
“Enough. I don’t want you to know about it.”
“Believe me, I am one step ahead of you. I know.”
“Then why are you doing this?”
“I want to hear it from your voice.”
Grey eyes looked back at him. “I like you. Is that fine?”
“There, it isn’t hard, right?” He wrapped his arms around the other. “It’s better since, I won’t be hiding that I can feel the same way as you did.”
“Even if it was more than like?”
“Yes. I love you.”
o-o
Every night, when they lie on bed, those eyes kept looking back at him.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” He asked.
“I wondered why, they sometimes change when we fight. Now I can see six, but sometimes, I see one or four.”
“It’s my abilities. Do you want to know?”
“Of course.”
“Well, then…”
And every night, he talked about the past lives of the never-ending cycle of life and death.
o-o
“If we resurrected, would you still find me?”
“Kyoya, why are you asking me this?”
“Nothing. I just wondered. If reincarnation is true, that we have past and future lives, would we find each other, even we are not the same as we are in this life?”
“I would do anything to find you again and again.”
“Thank you.”
“…Kyoya?”
“Hmm?”
“Is there…something wrong?”
“…no. Everything’s fine.”
o-o
He should have known what was going on. He gets more worried every time he hears the frightened screams.
“I’m scared.” He can hear the sobbed words. He kept his skylark close to him.
“I’m here. Don’t worry.”
“I…want to be like before…where we are so happy.”
Something has happened. He wished he could have been there beside him more.
o-o
“Mukuro…I don’t think we should…see each other anymore.”
“What?”
“I decided…to go away for a while.”
“Where are you going then?” He was surprised, how sudden the other teen spoke about this.
“There’s this lake…where I can stay for a while. It is near by a forest, and the lake itself is so peaceful. I was invited to their mental facility. I need to know, why am I having the terrible nightmares I can’t understand.”
“Let me come with you.”
“No. I don’t want to be a burden to you. I can…do this by myself. I don’t want to hurt you when I…” Tears started to come out of his eyes. “I just…don’t want to end things this way.”
This is clearly a break-up. Mukuro knows. As much as he wanted to help him, he decided to respect the other’s wishes. “It’s not the end.” He wiped those tears away from that perfect face. “Let’s just say, we are just taking a rest from each other. If you come back from that lake, let’s meet again. We will be better now. I can wait for you, even find you in another life.”
“I love you, okay? I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay. Everything’s going to be okay.”
They shared a long hug that day. So tight and warm, as if no one really wanted this to end.
o-o
Dear Mukuro,
As you know, I have not been feeling well for a while now. I will be staying at this lake I told you about. I am sorry this didn’t work out. Perhaps we will meet in another life.
-Kyoya
The note was written at the back of the photo. Mukuro looked at it every day. Keeping it beside him when he sleeps. He wanted to call him and ask about how he is. But on the day he finally got the courage to call, something happened.
In the news, there’s a main headline.
Teenager found dead – No sign of killer
And on the screen, there’s the body of someone he knew, a familiar face now motionless, unable to open those eyes anymore.
“Kyoya died?” Mukuro didn’t know what to feel. “Why? How did this happen?”
o-o
And since then, he started to be present in every investigation, wanting to know what happened. No one expected that something like that to happen at all. He can’t believe that the one he loved suddenly gone, away from him. And even the investigation closed the case as a suicide, he can’t accept it. He won’t believe what the others say.
The skylark is incapable of ending his own life.
But then, he just wanted to know why. Why he can’t be there beside him. He wanted to help, he blamed himself for not initiating it, persuading the other to let him stay.
He looked at the flyer.
Rusty Lake Mental Health and Fishing
So that’s where I should look.
o-o
My head hurts.
When Mukuro wakes up, he’s still in the room. He started to hate it. Everything around him is mocking him. He was still a bit dizzy as he slowly stands up, holding the chair that was turned over by his fall to support him. Then he hears the static sound coming from the television.
‘I thought that cord was cut.’ He realized, turning his head to look at the opened bright screen. He looked closer to the screen and he turned the knobs, changing the channel. He saw a version of himself stuck in the room, his body motionless with a green vial beside him, Kyoya standing by the lake, the crow-head person, the dark figure, everything he had encountered. And then there’s a scene where Kyoya stands behind him, hidden by a translucent screen.
Mukuro stopped. He turned around and he found the silhouette in the exact same screen. He slowly walked towards it, grabbing the frame, and pulled it open, revealing nothing but a tape recorder and a projector. Mukuro pressed play on the recorder, playing a beautiful sound and immediately, there’s a loud crash. He immediately stops playing the recorder and looked and the red cloth covering the bird cage is on the floor, the parrot freed itself and flew away. He looked above where it went, but he can’t see anything. But something caught his eye, light reflecting off from inside of the now empty birdcage.
A transparent glass cube with a spiral carving on it.
The last cube.
Mukuro picked it up and sighed, placing it to the last slot. ‘Now what?’ He hears a soft click, and he noticed the cabinet below him is opened, revealing the three vials. Red, blue, and green.
Now which one to drink?
He remembered the note on the flyer. He recalled the color of the vial on the television. So there’s no other choice but to pick the red one. He opened the vial and took a sip. Then, he suddenly feels unwell. He started to cough, trying to gasp some air. He leaned to the cabinet, trying to keep himself upright. He coughed and coughed, until he felt something on the back of his mouth. He spat it out, and there’s a key.
‘Finally, a way out.’ Mukuro sighed relief.
He looked at the sickening room again before inserting the key into the keyhole of the door, unlocking it. Then he swung open the door, finding himself stepping into a misty forest.
“What’s going on with this place?” He reacted, turning around to see the room he was once trapped in, gone.
“Child of Samsara.” That familiar voice again called him. “It’s an honor to meet you.”
“Who are you?” Mukuro asked defensively, staring at the crow headed being.
“Have you made the right choice?” The crow asked menacingly.
“I did. I got out of your stupid room.”
“Child of Samsara, you should not have come here, and it’s too late to get out. No one can escape the consequences of their actions, not you, not even your lover.”
“Mukuro…” A faint familiar voice called him. Mukuro looked at his side and sees Kyoya standing in the forest.
“Kyoya?” He reacted, and he hears the fluttering and he looked to see the crow flew away. He looked back and he sees the skylark is gone. Impulsively, he ran. He wandered around the misty forest, trying to get out, to see that face again, to hear that voice again, to apologize that he should’ve been there all the time and never letting him go again.
Eventually, he sees the lake. The water is clear and blue. He steps out of the dark forest and it was so bright. He can see a large building sitting on an island in the middle of the lake. He can see a small canoe rowing on the clear blue water.
Mukuro looked at his right and he sees Kyoya standing on the water. “Kyoya…” He gasped out, stepping closer to him. But he stopped.
A sharp, shiny knife was aimed on that pale neck. A dark hand holding it, and glowing eyes staring at him as he appears behind the skylark.
Those grey eyes opened once more.
“I wish…we could go back…to where it all started.”
It was so quick, in a flash, the knife cuts through the throat and the skylark falls into the water.
“Kyoya!” Mukuro runs into the water, he didn’t care anymore if that was real or not. If it was an illusion, some trick to mess with his mind completely, or any hallucinations from drinking that vial. He was shattered. From the moment he saw the news of his beloved being dead, he can’t move on. He was hurt. And there he was, looking through the water, crying like a child, unable to think clearly on what to do. He reached his hand into the water and grabs something. But it wasn’t soft and warm. It was rigid and cold. He lifted it out with both of his hands and he sees a black cube.
“What is this?” He catches his breath, staring at this cube, showing something to him.
It was him, still stuck in that green room, slowly waking up. Suddenly, he realizes what is going on.
He is stuck in an eternal loop. Trying to escape, he fails, ending up seeing Kyoya die endless times is his punishment. Mukuro wishes he could die, so when he reincarnates, he would find Kyoya’s reincarnated soul, promising a better life for each other.
But before he could drown himself…
o-o
Where am I?
Eyes opened a bit to see only a blur and the dark green walls with the moth patterns all around the room.
Have I been here before?
Eyes opened again to see the room, along with a familiar teenager standing at the corner, looking at him.
I feel…different.
He opened his eyes again, and before he managed to hold him, he is gone.
o-o-o